Month: April 2019

To the lowest beat of the Seven for the first time this season. This stretch is probably the least interesting of the club’s waters in terms of features. Mostly it’s pretty slow-flowing, with the odd little riffle and the deeper weir pool. But there are some good fish here and on its day sport can […]

A spot of unexpected sunshine, so after dropping number 1 daughter at Leeds Bradford airport for a hen do in Nice I sped across to Pickering to see if the fish were moving. The temperature had dropped, only about 11C, but the water looked bonny enough: I tackled up the Hardy Marquis 7ft 3wt with […]

With rain predicted over the next few days I thought I’d make the most of the sunshine and nipped up to the top beat of the Seven at Spaunton Moor. It looked like it should be a good day, with temperatures due to rise to around 15C, and only a gentle breeze from the east. […]

To Thornton Beck close to the Dalby Forest, the prettiest yet by some distance most challenging water that I fish. It’s tiny, clear as gin and very overgrown in places. Plus there was a briskish breeze right into my face. Those are today’s excuses. Against that, the temperature was up to 17C or so, which […]

Hard work on the lower beat of the Seven today, despite the temperatures soaring to a heady 11C. That irksome easterly was still blowing hard though and the fish are keeping their heads down. I fished a lot of water but for scant reward. Started prospecting with a single pheasant tail on the 9ft 4wt […]

Up to the Duchy beat of Pickering Beck to do the regular invertebrate sampling then have a go at tempting one or two of the skittish little wild browns that reside in the sinuous and occasionally jungly stretch of this little river. Judging by the little beasts in the sample, the water is in good […]

Up to the top beat of the Seven at Spaunton Moor on a day that didn’t really hold out much prospect – cold with a biting little north-easterly. I was keen to give the spiders a go on this water with the 9ft 4 weight before the trees start to come into leaf, when things […]

As I say, I don’t really expect to catch much, if anything, in March or April so I headed up to our stretch of the Seven at Sinnington with few expectations. The temperature had dropped to around 8C, with a thuggish little breeze that had a distinct easterly aspect. Last year I resolved to have […]